Things are sure cookin at Speedway 660! We saw a great night of racing last weekend when the Martins Home Heating Sportsman 100 took center-stage. The old adage “It ain’t over, till it’s over” sure came into play.
“Oh What a Night” it appeared to be for Dave O’Blenis. He set the table by burying the field in the time trials, winning his heat race and the pole for the big Sportsman race and dominating the RE/MAX Group Four Realty Pro Stock feature. The “Pride of Salisbury” then set-sail in the Martins Home Heating 100 and looked like a sure bet to seal-the-deal and take the three grand, first place prize money. But the race was 100 laps, not 70 or 75.
In his interview from the Riverview Ford Lincoln Victory Lane, after the pro stock feature, O’Blenis was hopeful heading into the 100 lapper, but he was also concerned. He told us his sportsman car had developed a vibration in the drive-train, during the heat race, and he was crossing his fingers that she would hold up for the race.
After winning the Martins Home Heating Sportsman time-trials and his heat race, Dave O’Blenis looked like he had things under control heading into last Saturday’s 100 lap race. With about 30 to go a drive-train problem forced him to give up the lead and a shot a the $3000 first place money!
The first 70 laps or so were no problem, but then the leader, who had opened up at least a ten car length advantage, had issues. The car slowed up and just didn’t sound right. And that’s when Matt Maillet made his move. O’Blenis ran a couple of more laps but had to take his car to the pits and that was that.
From then on it was “game-on” for the rest of the field. First Brent Roy gave Maillet a good run for his money, but appeared to use up the tires on his Toyota. After Matt Rodgers got around Roy and a late caution came out, it was his turn to try to beat Maillet to the pay window.
It was an awesome run to the checkers with Maillet taking the high groove and leaving the inside lane wide open for young Rodgers. The 42 got to the inside, but just couldn’t get it done. Maillet got good grip on the high-side and got great exits out of the turns to cross the stripe and take the win. It doesn’t get any better than that!
The other divisions are also providing us with great racing. A lot of fans really get into the Fredericton Jewelers 4 Cylinder and DMR Auto Sales & Service Street Stock races. There’s a lot to like. The car count is up in street stock and those front-wheel-drive 4 cyls are quite the little beasts!
The Fredericton Jewelers 4 cylinder division is a real crowd pleaser! Every week these little units kick up the dust, thrilling fans and drivers alike.
And if you like “dust-ups” those two divisions are where it’s at. There’s always a fair amount of rubbin, bangin and more than a little paint being traded. I think a lot of the contact is incidental, because the cars slip-slide around so much. And then when they get into each other it causes the occasional episode of “mad-mayhem”. Sometimes people get a little worked up over these racing incidents, but it sure makes for great entertainment.
Speaking of which, this coming weekend we’ll have twice as much fun at Speedway 660. That’s because there will be action on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
At 7PM Saturday, the Geary Woods comes alive with point racing in all five divisions. A quick look at the point standings show some drivers have gotten off to terrific starts to the 2013 season, while others have got to bear down a bit to make up some ground in the standings. Championships are always hotly contested at our track and all of the race teams are focused on having good runs this weekend to improve their positions in the points.
At 2PM on Sunday it’s the first Enduro of the year – 200 laps of chaos! I mentioned incidental contact earlier, well in Enduro racing there’s a lot more contact and hardly any of it is incidental. Don’t get me wrong, there are rules but spinning out a fellow competitor is encouraged. We get huge crowds for the Enduro races and fans of all ages are going to enjoy Sunday afternoon in the Speedway 660 bleachers.
So things are cookin down in the Geary Woods these days. And this weekend we’ll turn up the heat a couple of notches to really get things boiling! With our kids out of school for the summer and the vacay season in full swing, there’s no better time to make your way out to one of Canada’s best short-tracks.
It’s our 20th anniversary season and we invite you all down to Speedway 660 this weekend for a rip-roarin good time. We’ll see you at the races!
